From the moment I opened the door of the Ginger Monkey hostel in Ždiar, Slovakia and was greeted by a dog and two cats, I knew I was going to love the place. I arrived in the pitch black of an Autumn afternoon. It gets dark quickly here, and cold. The hostel directions from Krakow were awash with adventure; first take a bus to Zakopane, then take a minivan from directly opposite the bus station going in the direction of Łysa Polana or Morskie Oko. Get off at Łysa Polana and cross the border by foot. Then take the next bus toward Poprad.
I was entranced by this ‘cross the border by foot’ bit. How far did I have to walk? Was there anything actually there or would I be in the middle of a forest somewhere, blindly following the road along to a mysterious border, and once in Slovakia, how far until the bus stop, and how frequently does this bus go? The adventure of it all charmed me, and despite the fast approaching dusk, I made it to the border and crossed the 50m to a lonely bus stop on the other side. The bus was not due for another hour and I waited in despair as frost visibly grew on the asphalt in front of me and I shivered uncontrollably. Eventually the friendly care-taker of the brand new yet completely vacant information centre behind me took pity on me and opened up a little shelter and lit a fire in the wood stove, leaving me to defrost while he fetched me a very welcome cup of tea.
He looked at my backpack and said “you are going to the Ginger Monkey?” and then asked me “what means this; ‘Ginger’?”.
Eventually as the forest turned black and the frost enveloped the entire carpark, the bus arrived and within 20 minutes I was in Ždiar, following the next ambiguous stage of directions. “Walk back toward the service station, then head toward the church. You will see us up the hill, 30m behind the church”. They probably would have made sense in daylight, but I could scarcely even see proof of a town at all in the dark. Luckily the friendly attendant at the service station pointed me in the direction to begin, and I finally heard, rather than saw the church as I luckily walked by it just as the bells started to toll. Turning alongside it I hesitatingly made my way up to the obscured building behind, and tentatively knocked on the door, hoping it was not someone’s home. Luckily I had the right place, and was let in out of the cold to a cozy timbered hostel where the 3 other guests were sitting with the volunteer worker, watching Into The Wild. I joined them and after mentioning that I intended on staying only 2 nights was immediately told by all 3 guests that I would undoubtedly stay longer. They were right. After sharing a home cooked meal with me and playing cards, I was hooked. I ended up extending to 3 nights and would have stayed longer if I could have fit it in.
Ždiar is an outdoorsy person’s paradise. There are squillions of hiking options with breathtaking scenery, some even starting right from the hostel. In winter it is a ski area, and the hostel even has an assortment of wonderfully revolting 80s onesie ski suits for guests to attire themselves in.
Breakfast is provided free of charge each day, and the managers of the hostel even encouraged us to pack ourselves some sandwiches with the extra breaky supplies to take on our hikes.
The hostel itself is a cozy little wood house built in the ‘Zakopane style’ with a splendid view over the mountains from the front porch. The Ginger Monkey also has the best showers I’ve ever had. … ever! Which is great after a day out hiking and I can imagine the piping hot water would be particularly welcome after a day on the slopes.
This little hostel is to me exactly what a hostel should be. It revives the days when travellers actually communicated and hung out together in an intimate environment, bonding over a mutual love of travel, adventure and the outdoors. It is far from the atmosphere of the impersonal super hostels across Europe where too often these days you find yourself feeling isolated from those around you in a world of smart phones and ‘social’ media addicts who scarcely look up from the bright screens in front of them.
